An older woman sat two seats away from me. A HB8 (HBFlorida) came up. I didn't look up from my book that much, but I noticed she was cute, about 23, maybe half hispanic. She dropped her suitcase under the chair next to me, between me and the older woman, and walked off. I knew she would be back, so I just kept reading.
About 10-15 minutes later, someone walked up and asked if the seat was taken. The older woman and I explained that a girl left her suitcase there and walked off, but she'll probably be back. The older woman said something about how you're not supposed to leave your bag unattended, but I explained that she probably just went to get a coffee or something to eat so it was no big deal. I looked up and saw her sitting at the bar with the other two girls I should have opened earlier.
I went back to reading, and HBFlorida shows up and offers me a piece of gum. I accept even though I really didn't want one. We had some chit chat about delayed flights, gate changes, etc. She asked where I was going, so I told a story about a wedding I was going to, which was somewhat unusual, so she was digging it. She told me she was going to Albany for training, so we got into her job.
This is where I threw out my new favorite qualifier. I asked, "are you an artist or a musician?" She said, "neither. I guess you would say life is my... umm..." I finished her sentence, "life is your medium."
(Side note: I use either "Are you an artist or a musician?" or I ask "What instrument do you play?" By making an assumption, I create an expectation she will want to live up to. The other day I asked one girl, "Are you an artist or a musician?" and she just said "neither." I let that hang there to communicate that I was disappointed in her answer. Then I used HBFlorida's answer to bail her out and give her an opportunity to redeem herself. I said, "would you say life is your medium?" She eagerly said yes. Then I explained, "having life as your medium is high risk/high reward. I mean, when you're done with your work, and you want to take a step back and appreciate your artistry... you're dead!" I found that most people play a musical instrument at some point in their lives, even if it's the recorder or triangle in 2nd grade. So when I ask "what instrument do you play?" I usually get an answer, or she tells me that she studied dance or theater. If not, then I have something to tease them about.)
I did more attraction material. I read her palm and concluded by telling her that she had a huge "dork" line. I explained how palm reading involves a lot of cold reading and talked about Forrer statements (At times you like to be the life of the party, but other times you like to be alone with your thoughts).
I tried to use Style's value eliciting routine. I asked, "what thing could you not live without?" She said, "love." I couldn't help myself, I just said, "wow! That is a perfect answer. Most people say their telephone or car, but you said love. You're very in touch with your core values." She really impressed me.
At one point, we looked at the board and we noticed that her flight was canceled and my flight was delayed a couple of hours. She went to find out what happened, and they told her they were going to drive them from JFK to Albany on a shuttle bus in a couple of hours. Perfect! She asked me to have lunch with her. (At this point, I realized that she opened me and venue changed me. She seemed like a friendly person, though. She did make fast friends at the bar, so I don't know that she was gaming me.)
At lunch, we talked about Florida and what she likes to do there. I asked her if she goes to the beach a lot. She said yes. I told her that my parents live there and my mom works for Disney World (No, reader, I can't get you free passes!). We talked about how nice Epcot is at night where they have the countries. I pulled out two business cards and wrote my cell number on the back of one. I handed her the other one and a pen. She wrote her cell number, and I told her to write her email address too. She did and we made the exchange. I said, "cool. Now the next time I visit Florida, you can take me to the beach." She said, "yeah. Cool. Or you can take me to Disney World."
It got to be close to when her shuttle was leaving for Albany and we didn't get the check yet. She wasn't nervous at all, but she was sitting with a credit card in her hand. I told her I would take care of the check so she doesn't miss her shuttle. She gave me a hug and that was it.
About 30 minutes later I texted her, "unflappable in the face of canceled flights and departing shuttles. wow. have a good trip, dork." She texted back right away, "I will thanks for lunch
."
I know it's a long shot, but I am going to try to keep in touch. I really will be going to Florida, maybe at Christmas. It might be a good idea to either have her take me to the beach (that way, she's investing in the relationship) or go to Epcot (going to the countries in Epcot is like a major time distortion experiment with very interesting venue changes).
